** FILE **THis is an undated file photo provided by General Electric of James McNerney Jr. Currently 3M Co. CEO, McNerney is being mentioned by industry analysts as a possible successor to replace Boeing Co. former CEO Harry Stonecipher, who resigned Sunday, March 6, 2005 due to an ethics scandal involving an affair he had this year with a female company executive. (AP Photo/General Electric, file)
Ran on: 03-08-2005
Stonecipher

Photo: AP

** FILE **THis is an undated file photo provided by General...

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This July 20, 2010 file photo shows a Netflix customer turns on Netflix in Palo Alto, Calif. Netflix's Internet video service will debut in four Nordic countries before the end of the year, the latest step in an international expansion that has been crimping the company's financial results and stock price. In an announcement, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012, Netflix is coming to Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland fills in a blank that had been left open since earlier this year when the company disclosed its plans to enter another European market without providing specifics. The new market includes the setting for one of Netflix's original online video series, ?Lillyhammer,? which revolves around a New York mobster who moves to Norway. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

recalls

Glove bits may be in sausages

Johnsonville Sausage is recalling some packages of turkey sausage with cheddar cheese because the product may include pieces of glove.

The Wisconsin company is recalling select 13.5-ounce vacuum packages of Johnsonville "Turkey Sausage with Cheddar Cheese" with a "best by" date of Aug. 20, 2012, and the establishment number "EST. P-34224."

Nearly 49,000 pounds of product are being recalled. No injuries have been reported.

executive compensation

CEOs' income more than taxes

Twenty-six big U.S. companies paid their CEOs more last year than they paid the federal government in tax, according to a study released Thursday by a liberal-leaning think tank.

The study by the Institute for Policy Studies said the companies, including AT&T, Boeing and Citigroup, paid their CEOs an average of $20.4 million last year while paying little or no federal tax on ample profits, according to regulatory filings.

On average, the 26 companies generated net income of more than $1 billion in the United States, the study said.

The study blasted tax rules allowing unlimited deductions for CEO "performance-based" pay, like many stock options. It said the five biggest performance payers among the 26 companies took $232 million of these deductions last year.

Among the "kingpins" it criticized was CEO James McNerney Jr. of Boeing. It said he got $18.4 million in pay last year while his company received a tax refund of $605 million.

The study also laid into Citigroup for paying CEO Vikram Pandit $14.9 million while the bank received a net $144 million in tax benefits.

streaming video

HBO, Netflix battle in Europe

Rivals Netflix and HBO will soon go head-to-head in Scandinavia.

The two companies announced within hours of each other late Tuesday and early Wednesday that they plan to launch in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Netflix, in Los Gatos, said it would debut by the end of 2012. HBO did not provide a specific date.

Netflix has been aggressive about expanding into international markets. The service launched in Canada in late 2010, in Latin America one year later, and in Britain and Ireland this year. It has 3.6 million international subscribers, compared with 26.5 million in the United States.

HBO, meanwhile, is partnering with pay-TV veteran Peter Ekelund, operator of Parsifal International, the parent of URHOtv, an ESPN-like service popular in Finland.